Carrying case



0, 1954 c. MARTIN 2,685,882

CARRYING CASE Filed NOV. 26, 1951 Patented Aug. 10, 1954 CARRYING CASELeo C. Martin, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Northrop Aircraft, Inc.,Hawthorne, Calif., a corporation of California Application November 26,1951, Serial No. 258,105

' 1 Claim.

I This invention pertains to improvements in cases for photographs,drawings, posters, and the like, and particularly to a case of the kindin which the upper half of one side is hinged to the lower half of thatside, and the upper portion of the ends is out along an upwardly slopingline from the divided side to the top,'the upper portion of the ends andthe top being secured to the said upper side portion, so that when inopen position, printed material carried in the case may be stood on edgeon the inside of the top and be supported by the inclined edges of theends.

Heretofore, as far as I am aware, there has never been a commerciallyavailable case suitably proportioned to accommodate posters, picturesand visual presentation material while transporting the material fromplace to place and designed also to play. a functional part in themanipulation and exhibition of the posters during a presentation of thematerial to an audience.

An object of this invention is to provide a thoroughly practicalcarrying case which will protect the display and illustrative materialcontained therein while in transit and, furthermore, afford means forhandling and displaying it conveniently while conducting a meeting orpresenting the material to a group of spectators.

Another object of this invention is the provision or a carrying case inwhich a segment of its upper area is hinged to moving forwardly anddownwardly so that its top aligns with its normal bottom section andcooperates therewith to .form a large base having greatly increasedvertical stability, and being strong and deep enough to hold displaycards when placed in a diagonally upright position against the frontalangular edges of the two sections of the case.

A further object of this invention is to provide a particular contour ofsection between the two case portions which results in means for holdingdisplays in erect position and also for making them readily accessibleand'replaceable in the particular order or sequence desired during theactual presentation or exhibition ofthe visual material.

In brief, my invention comprises a carrying case for display cardsbearing printed, photographic, diagrammatio and other illustrativepresentations, dimensioned to receive a large number of such cards instandard mill sizes and increments or decrements thereof, and largeenough to take flat and unfolded a card large enough for display usewith a small group or audience. The case is substantially rectangular inform and resembles a conventional traveling bag in appearance exceptthat in lateral section, it is slightly thicker at its base than itstop.

The case includes a main body portion from which a diagonal segmentincluding most of the top, an angular portion of each end, andapproximately half of one side has been severed and hinged horizontallyacross the one side, to comprise a top or cover section which swingsoutwardly and downwardly so that the top of the cover section alignsalong the base line with the bottom of the body section and the exposeddiagonal edges of the top and body sections also align in the samediagonal plane when cover is in open position.

In this manner, the top or cover becomes a portion of the base therebyincreasing its area and vertical stability, and the aligning diagonaledges of the two sections combine to form an easel-like support againstwhich displays and posters are rested and maintained in a substantiallyupright position.

Display material is restrained from sliding away from the base of theinclined support by a rail or stop extending upwardly from the frontaltermination of the cover (when in open position). This stop consists ofa segment cut from the upper edge of the back of the body portion, andleaving an indenture large enough to provide access to cards containedwithin the rear section of the case.

The interior of the case is free of any transverse structural member,and a single upright longitudinal partition is installed in the bodyportion to provide lateral support to the ends and maintain thesubstantially upright positioning of the displays when only a few cardsare carried in the case. Corner sections, in the horizontal plane of thetop, protect the upper corners of posters retained in back portion ofcase, and further serve to strengthen and maintain structural form ofbody portion when only partially filled with material or when the caseis open.

The foregoing brief description indicates the manner in which the designand construction of the case achieve certain objectives of thisinvention, but other and further important objects will be apparent fromthe specification and accompanying drawings in which a preferred form ofthis invention is hereinafter more fully shown and described.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the back, top and one end of acarrying case embodying the concepts of this invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the front, one end, top and interiorof the case with its cover in the open position, together withsuperimposed phantom representations of objects contained in the caseand supported thereon.

Referring to the drawings:

The case, designated in its entirety as A, is substantially rectangularin form having a top I paralleling the bottom 1', parallel ends 3 and 4,and sides 5 and t, also referred to as backside 5, and front side 6, thelatter being disposed in fiat planes mutually inclined toward each otherso that they are less widely spaced at the top i than at the bottom l ofcase, as shown on end l in Figure 1.

The entire body of the case A is divided into two sections which aredesignated as body section B and cover section C, the latter comprising,areawise, a diagonal segment cut from the rear of the top I andincluding a narrow strip from upper edge of backside Hi, diagonallydownward to the longitudinal center line 8 of front side 6 along whichit is hinged horizontally enabling the cover section 6: to swingoutwardly and downwardly as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2, sothat the top I of the cover section C aligns along the base line withthe bottom 7 of the body section B, as in Figure 2, and the diagonaledges K-l and P-l, and K-Z and P-2 which are shown in relativejuxtaposition in Figure 1, become aligned in the same diagonal planewhen cover is in open position as indicated by lines bearing the samedesignations in Figure 2.

When in this inverted or open position, the top of the cover section Cbecomes a part of the base, enlarging its area by more than one half andincreasing its vertical stability many fold in relation to lateralpressure or weight applied from the front. The matter of verticalstability is a secondary but very important object of this inventionsince one of the major objectsthe use of the exposed diagonal edges152-! and P-l and 21-2 and P2 as an easel-like support for posters anddisplays-depends largely from its success upon the solidity and uprightstability of the case when in the open position.

Additional structural rigidity of the case when in the open position isprovided by corner sections ii and ii at the rear of the top which serveto secure the attachment of the ends 3 and i to the upper edges of theback 5, and offer properly positioned attachment points for receptacleportions of the top latches.

Another important consideration in the positioning and proportioning ofthe various parts of the case is the object of maintaininglongitudinally the diagonal easel-like plane of all exposed edges whichserve collectively to support the cards and other materials restedthereagainst. Figure 2 shows a phantom outline X of a large card beingsupported both by diagonal edges of top and body sections and by thegenerally horizontal lines of the case all of which align in the samediagonal plane including, a baseline located between the upright sectionM and basal terminations of lines K-l and K-2, the horizontal hinge line8, the upper edge of sectional partition 15, and, at the top, a line ofsupport in substantially the same plane provided by corner sections I!and E2 to cards which might not be wide enough to overlap upright endedges PIK| and P2K2 of the case.

The interior of the case is entirely free of any transverse obstructionwhich might tend to limit unnecessarily the size of a card to be carriedtherein. A single upright partition I5 in Figure 2 runs from end to endin the center of the body section and has several functions; itcontributes to the vetrical stability of the case, provides a centrallylocated horizontal line of support, is

particularly useful in holding cards upright when only a few remain inthe case, and finally, it provides a means of separating the displaysinto two groups, viz.: Lecture 1, and Lecture 11, or those which havebeen and those yet to be shown.

The irregular line of separation between the cover portion 0 and bodyportion B along the line of the top I and backside 5, best seen inFigure 1, results in a narrow strip [4 of backside 5 becoming a part ofcover section 0, and when the cover is in the open position, as inFigure 2, the strip l4 becomes inverted so that it extends upwardly frombase line along frontal termination of the cover'portion and serves as astop to keep displays from sliding away from the base of inclinedsupport.

Similarly, the separation of the strip 14 results in an indenture I3along upper edge of backside 5, shown in Figure 2, the purpose of whichis to provide space through which objects contained in the case can beseen and reached without displacing or disturbing displays beingexhibited on the frontal inclined surface.

The case is fabricated in a generally conventional manner and isinteriorly reinforced preferably with a stout frame of glass-impregnatedfireresistant fibre board to protect contents from accidental dents andabrasions. It is understood that details of construction may be variedwithout departing from the principles and concepts of this invention andit is, therefore, not intended to limit the patent granted hereonotherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A combined carrying case and display stand for'sheet materialcomprising: front and back walls, parallel top and bottom walls, and twoend walls; said case including a body portion adapted to contain sheetmaterial and a cover portion hinged to said body portion along a linedividing said front wall into upper and lower halves; said cover portionincluding said front wall upper half, said top wall excluding triangulardivided portions at both back corners thereof, a central upper dividedportion of said back wall extending between the opposed apexes of saidtriangular top wall portions, and upper divided portions of said endwalls disposed above an inclined dividing plane that slopes upwardlyfrom said hinge line to the forward apexes of said top wall triangularback corner portions; said top wall lying in the plane of said bottomwall when said cover portion is open with the lower edges of said upperend wall portions facing upwardly and lying in said inclined plane andwith said upper central back wall portion forming a stop for sheetmaterial supported on the inside of said cover and resting against saidedges; said triangular back corner top wall portions serving to bracesaid back and end walls at the upper back corners of said case.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 810,293 Meaker Jan. 16, 1906 1,930,347 Meyer etal Oct. 10,1933 1,958,600 Wright May 15, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date109,388 Great'Britain Sept. 13, 1917

